Imagine not feeling well and
rather than calling the doctor’s
office to schedule an appointment
that may not be until a few
days later, one calls the doctor directly
on his cell phone to describe
their symptoms and gets a
diagnosis. Imagine noticing a
new rash and skyping the doctor,
or texting him with a question regarding
treatment.

This might sound unheard of,
but for Dr. Michael Luciano, this is
the future of medicine. In fact, beginning
August 1, he and his wife,
Inna, will be implementing this approach—
also known as Concierge
Medicine—into his own practice.
According to Dr. Luciano, Concierge
Medicine is an innovative way of efficient
and quality primary care.

Dr. Luciano comes from a
family of respected doctors—his
father is an orthopedic surgeon
and his grandfather was a primary
care doctor. His grandfather used
to share stories with him about
the way he treated patients in the
past. His grandfather’s office was
connected to his house which is a
sign of how dedicated he was to
his patients—they could always
get in touch with him, which is
important in primary care because
you never know when you
need your doctor.

“It’s not a 9 to 5 job,” Dr. Luciano
says. “When you are sick,
that’s when you need me the
most and I want to be available
for you.”

Suburban Life/Philadelphia
Life spoke with Dr. Michael Luciano
to find out more about
Concierge Medicine, why he’s
making the switch, and how it
will ultimately benefit him and
most importantly, his patients.

SL/PL: Can you explain Concierge
Medicine in further detail?
ML: Concierge Medicine is a
membership model which supplies
all of your primary care
needs for a monthly or yearly
fee, eliminates copays and deductibles
and replaces them
with unlimited amount of phone
calls or visits to your doctor. The
practice size is limited, insurance
is not accepted, and patients receive
a more personalized approach
to maintaining optimal
health by having their own personal
doctor. This unique level
of comprehensive and coordinated
primary care allows for
extended visits with the doctor;
24-7 access via cell phone, text,
email and virtual visits.

The size of my practice will
be limited to only 500 patients
and they will have extended, unhurried
office visits so they have
time to ask all their questions.
Currently I have over 3,000 patients
in my traditional insurance
practice and had a long waiting
list for some time for new patients
because I don’t want to
compromise care. There’s a big
convenience factor where patients
will have the ability to
schedule same day or next day
appointments. In addition, the
Concierge practice will offer enhanced
coordination of care
with specialists and assistance
scheduling appointments done
by our friendly staff, and comprehensive
physicals that allow
more time than a typical physical
would cover. Other services
that will be included are annual
body composition testing, onsite
blood draws and convenient access
to all medical records
stored in a patient portal or uploaded
onto a flash drive.

SL/PL: Why did you ultimately
choose to transition to this model?
ML: The current healthcare environment
has become very complex,
inefficient and costly.
Insurance companies have become
focused more on population
health data instead of the
health of the individual, which in
turn has increased the administration
burden on physicians and
their staff. I became a physician
to take care of people and it has
become more about checking
boxes off to satisfy insurance
companies, paperwork and a
complicated billing processes.
This is taking away time from
the patients and leads to longer
lead times to schedule an appointment
and crowded waiting
rooms.

The only way to sustain a
solo practice like I own is to see
30 or more patients a day to sustain
overhead. The large volume
of patients that are required for
doctors yields an average of
eight minutes per patient and
that, I don’t believe, is good
health care. I want to be able to
spend more time with my patients.
Additionally, many physicians
feel that health insurance
should be treated like auto and
home insurance. Just like car insurance
doesn’t include your
gas and oil changes and home
insurance doesn’t cover a
clogged drain, health insurance
should be used to pay for labs,
outpatient testing and hospital
visits, and exclude primary care
to improve efficiency and offer a
better patient experience.

SL/PL: What are the benefits?
ML: Ease of access and convenience.
If patients are working
and can't get off, instead of diverting
to urgent care, I discuss
with them potentially through a
virtual visit call. I can see if
there's an issue, such as a rash,
and they can text or Skype me.

SL/PL: What is the fee to be a member
of patient of the practice, and
do you recommend patients continue
to have health insurance?
ML: My patients will have a
choice between a yearly fee of
$1,800 or a monthly fee of $165.
It’s extremely important for patients
to maintain health insurance
for care they would need
to get outside of my office, such
as outpatient testing or hospitalization.
There are unexpected
high cost bills; an emergency
room visit and hospital stays
can cost thousands of dollars.

SL/PL: What happens to those patients
that can’t afford this model or
choose to continue to use their insurance
for primary care services?
ML: It is with a heavy heart that I
will be unable to care for all of
my patients as I am limiting my
practice size to provide this type
of enhanced Concierge patient
care. I treat every patient like family,
so this it is difficult knowing I
will be unable to care for each of
my loyal patients. I always believed
in this type of direct primary
care where third party
payers can no longer dictate the
way I care for my patients.

I have thought about this for
a while and I wanted to make
sure my patients have a smooth
transition and find them a new
medical home. I have chosen a
well-respected local doctor near
my office that I will be working
closely with to transition those
patients to that practice. I take
this very seriously and want to
make sure they continue to have
good medical care.

To inquire about becoming a
patient of Dr. Luciano, call (215)
957-1100 and ask to speak with
Maureen, the practice manager.

Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life Magazine, May, 2017.
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